JessBelle's Return
by autumnrose2010
Summary: Billy-Ben and Ellie thought that she was gone forever, but they were wrong.
1. New Baby

Billy-Ben Turner was a happy man. His crops were doing well, he and Ellie were still very much in love, and today she would give birth to the couple's first child. Ellie's labor pains had started early that morning, just as the sun was rising. She had awoken Billy-Ben with a shake to his arm.

"Billy-Ben, it's time."

"Aw, go back to sleep, Ellie. You've had those pains before."

"No, Billy-Ben, I mean it. This time it's for real. Ooh!" She grimaced as another contraction started.

Billy-Ben saw the look on her face and, alarmed, he hurriedly dressed and went for the midwife.

"If'n it's a first baby, there's no hurry," Sally Jean, the midwife, told him. But by the time they returned home, Ellie was doubled over with pain.

That had been over twelve hours ago, and the baby still hadn't come. As Billy-Ben paced the floor, he fantasized about a strapping boy he could teach to hunt and fish, or a dainty girl Ellie could teach to cook and sew.

After what seemed like forever, the bedroom door finally opened, and Sally Jean stood there with a bundle wrapped in a white blanket.

"Congratulations, Billy-Ben! It's a little girl," she said.

Billy-Ben grinned as he gingerly took his newborn daughter into his arms. The baby's dusky blue eyes stared straight into his own, and he felt an icy chill run down his spine as he read her thoughts.

_Why do you look so surprised, Billy-Ben? You always knew I'd come back to you one way or another, didn't you?_


	2. Birthday Party

It was Daisy May's second birthday. She was a beautiful little girl, with Billy-Ben's dark hair and Ellie's blue eyes. Ellie had baked a beautiful cake for her little daughter. It had white icing with pink roses all around, and she had written 'Happy Birthday Daisy May' across the top in pink icing.

Both Billy-Ben's parents and Ellie's parents, as well as several neighbors who were also the parents of small children, were there to celebrate the happy occasion. It was a gorgeous day, and they were all seated on lawn chairs around a fold-up table in the back yard. Daisy May was beyond herself with excitement. Curls bouncing and eyes shining, she danced from one guest to another with happy whoops.

The group fell silent as Ellie prepared to light the candles.

"Come on, Daisy May," Ellie encouraged her small daughter. "See if you can blow both candles out at the same time!"

Daisy May obediently inhaled deeply, which made her little cheeks puff out, and blew mightily at the candles, extinguishing both of them at once.

"Good girl!" Ellie cheered, as all the guests clapped. Daisy May grinned, proud of herself.

Everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to the little girl as Ellie cut slices of cake, put them on paper plates, and passed them around to the guests. The chatter resumed as everyone began eating.

"Oh, Ellie," chirped Martha. "You promised me you'd give me your recipe for three-bean salad."

"So I did," Ellie said. "Come on into the kitchen. I'll get it for you in a jiffy."She and Martha headed for the house.

When Ellie returned, she looked around for Daisy May, but the little girl was nowhere to be found.

"Daisy May? Daisy May! Come here, sweetheart!" she called.

"I saw her following a cat around the side of the house a few minutes ago," someone volunteered.

Ellie, followed closely by Billy-Ben, rushed around to the side of the house. There was Daisy May, toddling toward a black cat.

"Kitty," said Daisy May, reaching to stroke the cat.

Billy-Ben saw movement in the grass between the child and the cat and, to his horror, a moccasin raised its head and flicked its tongue at Daisy May.

"Stay still, Daisy May! Don't move!" he shouted as he ran for his shovel. A split second later, the moccasin lay in two pieces at his feet, and a badly frightened Daisy May cried hysterically.

"It's all right now, sweetie. Daddy's got you," he murmured as he patted the little girl's back. As Ellie came to join him in comforting their daughter, the black cat gave him a knowing look and slinked away.


	3. The Accident

"Congratulations, Ellie." Dr. Barnes smiled at her. "You're pregnant!"

"Oh, I'm so happy!" Ellie gushed. "Billy-Ben will finally get that little boy he wants so bad! When will I give birth?"

"I'd say about eight months from now. You seem to be in perfect health, and everything looks good! How's that little girl of yours doin'?"

"Daisy May? Oh, she's fine! She'll be three years old soon, and she's gettin' to be so big!"

"They do grow so fast, don't they! Well, you take care, Miss Ellie, and I'll see you again next month!"

It was drizzling rain, and Ellie almost slipped in a puddle on her way back to her car. She opened the door, slid into the front seat, and began the journey home on the winding dirt road. She was about halfway home when she saw the black cat, just standing right in the middle of the road. Without thinking, Ellie jerked the steering wheel to the left abruptly. Suddenly the car seemed to have a mind of its own as it wildly slid around in the road and then flipped over. Ellie didn't even have time to scream before blacking out.

* * *

><p>When Elllie regained consciousness, she was lying on her back in a hospital bed. Billy-Ben sat in a chair beside her, a sorrowful expression on his face.<p>

"What in the world happened?" Ellie asked.

"You were in an accident, Ellie. The car was totaled. You've had a mild concussion and a few bruises. No broken bones, thank goodness."

"What about the baby?"

Billy-Ben looked sadder than Ellie had ever seen him. "I'm so sorry, Ellie. The baby's gone."

"Oh, Billy-Ben, I know how much you wanted a son."

"I'm just so glad that you weren't hurt worse."

"We can try again just as soon as I'm better."

Billy-Ben shook his head sadly. "The doctor told me that you can never get pregnant again. The damage was just too bad."

Ellie began to sob quietly.

"Do you remember how it happened, Ellie?"

"There was...a cat. A black cat in the middle of the road, just standing there. It looked so much like the black cat that was at Daisy May's birthday party. I do believe that it may have been the same one."

Billy-Ben stood and walked out of Ellie's hospital room and down the hall, and stepped out into the empty parking lot.

"Why, Jess-Belle? Why?" he cried.

There was no answer but the chirping of the birds and the buzzing of the insects.


	4. Sacrifice

It was a bright, sunny day, and Billy-Ben, Ellie, and Daisy May were having a picnic by the lake. Ellie spread the red-and-white-checked table cloth over the picnic bench, and Billy-Ben began setting out the plates, napkins, silverware, glasses, lemonade, fried chicken, and potato salad.

"Look at the pretty butterfly, Mommy!" Daisy May exclaimed. She had just turned five and would start kindergarten in the fall.

"Yes, that's real pretty, baby," Ellie replied.

Just then, a black cat appeared and jumped right up onto the picnic table, heading straight for the fried chicken.

"Scram!" shouted Billy-Ben. The cat hissed at him.

"Beat it, I said!" Billy-Ben advanced toward the cat, shaking his fist menacingly. The cat flew at Billy-Ben, scratched him on the arm, and then darted away.

Billy-Ben cursed loudly as blood dripped from his arm.

"Let me see, honey." Ellie examined the trio of scratch marks on Billy-Ben's arm. "I'll bandage it when we get home. Where's Daisy May?"

"I saw her headed in that direction just a minute ago." Billy-Ben looked puzzled, then worried.

They both walked in a slow circle around the picnic table, shouting her name. After awhile, Ellie spied something that made her blood freeze. It was Daisy May's little straw hat, floating way out in the lake.

"My baby!" Ellie cried, kicking off her shoes and rushing into the lake.

"Ellie, no! Come back! You can't swim!" Billy-Ben shouted, but she had already disappeared beneath the water's surface.

Billy-Ben heard maniacal laughter and saw Daisy May jump out from behind a bush she had been hiding behind on the other side of the lake, except that the laughter wasn't Daisy May's at all. It belonged to that of a woman whom Billy-Ben had come to regard as pure evil.

Billy-Ben dived into the lake and swam frantically toward the spot where he had seen Ellie's head disappear. He bumped into her limp body and grabbed her around the waist, paddling desperately with the other arm toward the shore.

After he had finally reached land and struggled out of the lake with his burden, he realized that Ellie was unconscious. She was perfectly still, her eyes were closed, and she didn't seem to be breathing at all.

Billy-Ben rolled her onto her back and put his arms around her, pushing up on her diaphragm with his fists, and a large amount of water gushed out of her mouth.

"Come with me, Billy-Ben. Embrace the darkness." The words came from Daisy May's mouth, but the voice was Jess-Belle's.

"We won't be afraid because we'll be together, as we were meant to be, Billy-Ben."

"No!" Billy-Ben screamed, desperately searching for any sign of life in Ellie's body.

"Come with me, Billy-Ben, and I'll let her go." Billy-Ben realized that he would have to make a heart-breaking choice. Oh, if only there were some other way...

"But there isn't, Billy-Ben." Jess-Belle gazed at him coolly through Daisy May's eyes. "There is no other way."

"I'll go, Jess-Belle." Tears streamed down Billy-Ben's face as he spoke. "Leave my wife and daughter alone, and I'll do whatever you want me to."

Ellie began to cough and gasp for breath, and her eyes opened as her face lost its deathly bluish pallor.

"Mommy! Are you all right? What's wrong with Daddy?" asked Daisy May.


	5. After All This Time

"I pray that God will help you through this time of deep sorrow," Reverend Thorne told Ellie.

"Thank you, Reverend." Ellie took Daisy May's hand and they walked from the grave site back to the car. Daisy May looked back at the grave, as if reluctant to leave it.

"Daddy's gonna be so lonesome down there all by himself," she said.

_No he won't, _Ellie thought bitterly. _He'll be with Jess-Belle. After all this time, she's finally won._

Friends and relatives came to the house all day, bringing enough food to last Ellie and Daisy May a couple of months. Everyone expressed their sympathies and told Ellie that if she ever needed anything, anything at all, all she had to do was ask...

_How about my husband and Daisy May's father back? _Ellie wanted to say, but didn't.

"How on earth did it happen?" Martha wanted to know. "He seemed so healthy, so full of life the last time I saw him."

"We were in a panic because we couldn't find Daisy May. I saw her hat floating in the lake and thought that she had fell in. I was so scared that I forgot I don't know how to swim and ran right in. The next thing I remember, I was lying on the bank trying to catch my breath. Billy-Ben and Daisy May were there too, but there was something wrong with Billy-Ben. He wouldn't answer me. Somehow we got him to the hospital. In the emergency room they checked him and just shook their heads."

"After the autopsy, they told me he had a massive heart attack and died instantly. Best the doctor could figure was that he got so scared at me almost drowning that his heart just couldn't take it." Ellie didn't mention the black cat that had scratched Billy-Ben.

"Well, at least you and Daisy May are all right," Martha said. "I'm so sorry, Ellie. I know how much you loved him. Just remember, he's in a better place now."

The two women embraced, and Ellie sobbed.

In the cemetary, a black cat sat atop the freshly dug grave. Another black cat soon approached, and the two cats silently made their way into the woods.


End file.
